


The Sun is Always Shining When I'm With You

by hunters_retreat



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Hanahaki Disease, Lance is the BEST best friend, Lather, Life likes to smack Keith in the face, M/M, Oblivious Keith (Voltron), Oblivious Shiro (Voltron), Post Season 7, Rinse, The Flower Disease, repeat, they save each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 18:08:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15913524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunters_retreat/pseuds/hunters_retreat
Summary: It finally hit Keith like a brick to the head.  This was love.





	The Sun is Always Shining When I'm With You

**Author's Note:**

> Because Hanahaki. That is all. 
> 
> And because Lance.

Sometimes, life liked to smack Keith right upside the face.  Sure, he’d had plenty of hard knocks, but this was a sucker punch to the side of the head, the kind that only the universe could deliver. 

His mother had felt the same thing when she’d been stranded on Earth, and again when she’d been forced to leave it.  He’d had two years alone with her to get to know her, to understand what had happened and how her love for him had caused her to leave.  As a child he’d always said he didn’t care, that it didn’t matter that she was gone.  He’d had his dad and that was more than enough.

It had mattered though.  Knowing her love for him had sent her back into the Blade and undercover with the Galra to try to make the galaxy safe- for him- mattered.   He was no longer the poor orphaned boy that no one wanted.  He was a proud son whose father had given his life in the line of duty and whose mother still fought with everything she had.

He’d had two years to try to put together the damaged pieces of himself and to figure out who Krolia really was.  Of course, the flashes of memories helped with that.  It was hard to deny her adamant words when he could witness the truth on his own.  So many memories had been shared between them that he felt he knew her better than he knew himself at times.  And she had certainly gained a lot of insight into his head.  So when this happened, she was there, silent and watchful, but full of understanding. 

As with most of his life, it happened too fast to have time to think about it.  What it could mean.  What it _should_ mean.   Keith had brought Krolia back to the Castle of Lions just in time for all hell to break loose again.  Lotor’s generals attacked, Shiro went apeshit crazy, and Keith did what had to be done, as always.

It was too much.  The fight with the generals, almost losing Shiro through the portal only to be spit out in the middle of Lotor’s ships.  The fight to find Shiro, and then when he finally found him, the fight to save him.  Keith couldn’t give up on Shiro.  He didn’t have it in him. 

Krolia has asked him once, why that was, but Keith had never been able to find the words to answer it accurately.  Nothing was enough.  Nothing he said could encompass why he needed to make sure Shiro was okay.

Seeing Shiro in the astral plane with the black lion, knowing that he was dead, felt like a kick but his spirit was still there and he didn’t know how to fix it, but there was a Shiro clone on his ship and there had to be something.  The universe was too big not to have the answers for Shiro.  It had never had answers for Keith, but he would beat the answers out of it for Shiro, no matter what it took.

Keith had watched as Allura walked to the Black Lion and laid hands on it, then come back to Shiro to do the same.  He’d watched her perform her alchemy and wondered.   He didn’t believe it though, couldn’t believe she could help, until the Black Lion roared triumphantly to the sky.  Keith felt it to the bone, that Shiro was finally back where he belonged.  And when he woke and fell into Keith’s arms, he had never wanted to hold on to anything so much in his life.

And as they set Shiro in a healing pod on the Black Lion, it finally hit Keith like a brick to the head.

This was love.

 

***

He knew.  Keith wasn’t an idiot and he knew what he felt, but he couldn’t quite accept it.  What the hell did he know about love?  It’s not like he grew up with loving parents as an example.  He had Krolia’s memories now and knew she had loved his father but it was different, wasn’t it?

There wasn’t much to do as the lions travelled through space and he had too much time to think.  They were far from home and only stopped when they had to get fresh supplies.  Thankfully, there were enough known planets that they found a route that would get them home without having to starve themselves to do it.  So long as their luck held out.

The team did a lot of back and forth between the ships.  It was easy to tether the lions together and they frequently had someone visiting Black to check on Shiro. 

They might be crazy, but they were Shiro’s team and every single one of them believed he’d bounce back from this. 

There was no option.  He had to.

So Keith waited.  And he watched.  Because while the others came to see Shiro and to watch over him, Keith watched them. 

Long travel in space was lonely and the comms were a poor substitute for being in a room with other people.  Even Keith, as isolated as he’d always been from people, was relieved at the constant visits from the others.  When they arrived on a planet to restock, it was easy enough to suggest staying the night and having dinner together.

Keith stayed in Black to sit with Shiro while the others set up a fire pit and began to prepare a meal.  Once it was done, Krolia brought food back and took his place so that he could join the others.  He wasn’t sure if she understood what he was doing, but she knew him best and she gave him a slight smile as he went off to join them.

It was twilight by the time Keith arrived.  They were all sitting around a makeshift table and called out to him as he came over.  Coran handed him a plate of food; fresh fruits and vegetables they’d been able to gather on the planet as well as a native bird they’d hunted.  After weeks of rations and canned/dried everything, the meal was a feast.  But that wasn’t why Keith had suggested this. 

Keith had research to do.  Keith had always been very observant and what he needed to understand now was the nature of relationships.  Who better to review than with the team that already supported him?

Pidge and Hunk were the easiest to read.  They were excited about going home but they were also excited each time they got to see their Voltron family.  They always seemed to gravitate together and when they began to speak technobabble that no one else understood, they turned towards one another.  There were friendly pats on the shoulder, elbow nudges, and friendly glances that meant inside stories that no one else knew. 

Keith had been party to any number of those things with both Pidge and Hunk, as had Lance.  There was nothing but sibling playfulness and the connection of friends between them.   Allura and Coran seemed to have a slightly more elevated relationship with the two.  Allura and Coran were both mentors in many ways to all of the team, with their knowledge of the alien worlds around them and the often mercurial seeming alliances they danced around. 

Coran was a crazy uncle figure and they were all impressed with his devotion and skill, and sometimes struck with the hilarity of his personality.  He was always genuine and he gave advice freely. 

Allura tried to fit in with the others, but always seemed to be slightly on the outside.  With Coran, she was always the Princess he had to care for and protect.  With the humans, she was always the alien  Princess who was going to help them defeat their enemies.  She was aloof in ways that Keith could see she didn’t mean to be, but that seemed at times, impossible to change.  Other times, she surprised them all by joining in with their silly games and teasing. 

The only one that she seemed to be able to let go completely around was Lance.  Of all people, the Red Paladin seemed to understand just what she needed to join in to the celebration. 

Case in point.

“Come on, everyone used to tell stories around a camp fire.  You have to have some sort of spooky story,” Pidge said to Allura.

“No, she really doesn’t Pidge,” Hunk chimed in.  Keith was rather amused that the big guy was the most likely to cry during romantic movies and run away to hide during scary ones.  It was like the big guy just seemed to be all heart, with no room for anything else.

“I don’t, really,” Allura said.  Coran had told one that, to be honest, had Keith looking over his shoulder, so there were Altean versions of campfire stories.  Pidge seemed to have stumbled upon one of those things that Allura had no experience with because of her status in the royal family and Allura was too caught up trying to be one of the people to remind them that many of the common practices were unknown to her.

Allura was standing behind the table with her hands clenched together in front of her.  Keith has seen the gesture too many times not to understand what it meant.  She was uncomfortable and unsure of how to step away.

“I have an idea,” Lance said as he moved around the table to sit to the left of where Allura had been sitting.  He patted the makeshift bench and Allura sat beside him, listening.

“We have a lot of Earth and Altean customs to remember, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have our own, right?  So this is the first Voltron tradition.  Made-up Campfire stories.”

“And how do we do that?” Allura asked.

“It’s simple.  I’ll start a story, and then you add onto it.  When you finish your part, you tell me to take over, or if I want to add something, I’ll let you know.”

“That sounds like fun,” Allura said with a small smile.

Lance blushed slightly at her words and looked back at the others.

“Will it be scary or is this just going to get strange?” Pidge asked, but Keith could see that Pidge was into the idea as well. 

“We could make funny stories, right?  And add things like the time the food goo tried to kill us?”

He laughed about it now, but there had been a solid three months where Hunk had been rather upset at the sight of food goo.  The food’s betrayal had hit him hard.

“Well, we’ll have to see what Allura and I come up with, now won’t we?” Lance asked.

Allura smiled brightly at the idea and then Lance bent his head towards her and they whispered back and forth for a moment. 

“Once upon a time,” Lance began, “there was a team of cows.”

“Cows?  Really Lance?” Allura asked.

“Do you want to start it?”

Allura held her hands up in surrender, “Oh no, please.  Go ahead.  A team of cows….”

Keith listened as the story went from silly to ridiculous in the course of just a few minutes.  By the end the team of cows had picked up three stray geese who had been threatened by evil pigs, a wayward hound dog, two pitchforks -Keith still wasn’t sure how they fit into the story- and an endearing, yet tired porcupine, and managed to save the farm  and the surrounding countryside from total annihilation. 

Allura was laughing as hard as the rest of them and Keith could see how relaxed she’d become during the story telling.  The fire had begun to die low and she sat with her shoulder pressed against Lance’s.  When Hunk teamed up with Coran to tell a story–about two best friends named Dunk and Doran-the Princess let her head rest lightly on Lance’s shoulder.

And that was when he saw what he was looking for.  Lance looked at Allura like she was the entire world, but there was a sadness behind it as well.  As much as Allura pretended everything was fine, she was still struggling with their betrayal at Lotor’s hands.  She had taken it harder than anyone, but from what the others had said, she had been closer to Lotor than the others. 

Allura looked to Lance as a friend, as someone who supported her and that she could relax around, but Lance looked like she was everything he had ever wanted.  Everything he would never be able to have.  And he was willing to accept that role in her life because at least then he had what he could of her.

“It’s called love,” Krolia spoke in his ear softly.

He turned his head and glared at her.  “Is everything okay?”

“I just needed some fresh air,” she said as she watched Keith closely. 

“Have it.  I’ll go back and keep watch.”

“Keith,” she called out to him but he didn’t answer.  He just returned back to the Black Lion. 

He passed Red on the way and stopped to look up at his former partner.  “I don’t know what to do, Red,” he said softly.  He ran a hand over Red’s leg.  “We went through a lot together, but I don’t know what to do with this.  With…” he couldn’t say it out loud. 

He felt the same mental shrug from the Red Lion that he’d expected.  They weren’t partners anymore, but you couldn’t connect with one of the Lions the way the Paladins did and ever sever the connection completely.  At least not easily.  They knew that from Zarkon.  Keith had seen Lance experience the same thing.  Every so often, he’d seen him talking to Blue. 

“You’re no help, buddy,” he said, giving Red one last affectionate pet before he walked back to Black. 

“You know, you could give me some advice here, Black,” Keith said as he walked in.  He checked the monitors quickly and nothing had changed in Shiro’s status.  He checked the readings from Black to see if there was anything in the system that could be a threat and nothing had changed there either. 

“He was in your head for a long time so I assume you were in his as well.  A little hint would be welcome.   Does he see me as this hopeless kid who tagged around on his coat strings?   Or could there be something more?”

He could feel Black in his head, but instead of some sort of answer, there was an overriding sense of… ask him yourself.

“Yeah, yeah.  I’ll get on that.  As soon as he wakes the hell up and gets out of the med pod.”

 

***

 

He didn’t.  Of course he didn’t.  Because Shiro woke up and all hell broke loose and then they were back on Earth.  An Earth that was occupied by Galra.  Fight. Save the day.  Almost die.  Get saved by Shiro.  Save Shiro.  Rinse.  Lather.  Repeat.

Keith was the uncontested Black Paladin.  Shiro was the Captain of the Atlas, their support vessel and the first of a fleet of space cruisers that would ultimately help them defend the universe.

Shiro was his best friend and confidante.  As leaders, they turned to one another for support.  As friends they turned to each other for advice.  But nothing changed in the way Shiro looked at him. 

Keith had looked hard, especially after Shiro dealt with the loss of Adam and the guilt he felt for not being there when his former lover had died.  Shiro was his friend though and nothing more.

Keith could deal with that.  As much as he loved Shiro, having his friendship was more than enough.

 

***

 

“You heard about Matt’s wedding, right?” Shiro asked as he took a seat across from Keith in the dining hall.  As the captain, Shiro had a seat at the main table and had access to better quality food, but he always took a seat with Keith and the other paladins when they were around. 

Keith looked up from his breakfast and nodded.  “They’re having it on Earth, right?”

“His fiancé’s family was killed by the Galra so she doesn’t care where they have it.”

“The Holts practically adopted her when they met her last year,” Keith said with a grin.

Shiro laughed.  “Yep.  So she’s embracing Earth traditions though I was told to keep an eye out for anything she throws in.”

“Best man?” Keith asked, because he hadn’t been told but there was no one else Matt would ask to fill that role.

“The one and only,” Shiro preened. 

Keith finished off his food and pushed the tray aside.  “I’m guessing they’re tying the knot on the Atlas?”

“They’re still discussing it.  I think Colleen is trying to talk them into something a little more traditional.  The Memorial Gardens have turned out pretty nice and I think she was trying to talk them into that.”

“If Mrs. Holt wants the Memorial Gardens, that’s where it will be,” Keith teased.

Shiro nodded. 

They’d all become familiar with Pidge’s mom and how strong willed she was.  The family was incredibly strong and they had taken all of the paladins in as family.  In fact, the network between the paladin’s families was pretty insane.  Keith was constantly bombarded with invitations to this birthday or that graduation.    

“You going to Hunk’s family gathering today?” Shiro asked as he tucked into his own plate. 

Keith shook his head.  “Not this time.  I was planning to spend some time in the desert.”

“Bikes?”

“You up for it?”

Shiro grinned.  “I’ll drop my present off with Lance.  He’ll take it for me.”

 

***

 

The day was perfect for riding and Keith couldn’t remember the last time he and Shiro had just been out for fun.  Keith had become a better pilot since the days they’d last sped through the worn trails and he was able to keep up with Shiro and his ever growing list of insane jumps that Keith hadn’t known about. 

Apparently once you learned to jump over one dangerous cliff, it was easier to jump over the next.  And the next.  And the next.

By the end of the day, Keith was covered in sand, Shiro’s smile was brighter than he’d seen it in ages, and they were both exhausted.  They walked back towards the crew’s quarters together, laughing. 

Originally the Captain’s quarters and the Paladin’s quarters had been on very different parts of the ship, but when the Atlas came to life, it had shifted some things around.  Like the fact that the Captain’s quarters let out into the main common room that connected the Paladin’s quarters. 

“When’s the last time you let it loose like that?” Shiro asked as they walked into the main room.

Keith thought back.  “That time we rescued you from the Garrison.  I took the bike over the edge with all of you on it.”

“I forgot about that,” Shiro admitted with a smile.  “Not that I was conscious for it.”

“Yeah, I just haven’t been able to get out there much.”

“We should do it again sometime,” Shiro said.  “It was good to just get away.” 

Shiro patted Keith’s back and a cloud of dust rose with it.  “And on that note, I’m hitting the shower.  See you in the morning.”

“Good night, Captain,” Keith teased.

“Good night, Black Paladin,” Shiro called back. 

Keith watched him go through the door to his room before he turned to his own.  The others were all still with Hunk’s family and Keith was grateful for the reprieve.  He loved his friends but they sometimes forgot that he was solitary by nature.  A few minutes alone was a blessing.

He headed to his room and threw off his own dusty clothes.  The water started in the shower and Keith let the heat spread over his muscles as he closed his eyes.  He couldn’t help but let the highlights of the day repeat in his head. 

Shiro’s smile as Keith opened the garage to the bikes.  The laugh Shiro let out when they crested the first cliff face.  The way he pulled Keith close for no reason other than to express his gratitude for their friendship and the invitation to spend their precious free time together.  The way his fingers had felt against Keith’s skin when he’d brushed the hair out of his face.

He dropped his head back against the wall, aware that the small moment of intimacy meant too much to him.  He felt something tighten in his chest and he coughed into his hand.  It was a small coughing fit that lasted a few minutes.  This time he tossed it off as too much dust in his lungs. 

He noticed the flower petal in the drain but thought it was just something from their day outside. 

He didn’t think anything about it until later, when the cough became something more.

 

***

 

“How many times is this?” Shiro asked as Keith propped him up against Black.

“I lost count.  Aren’t you supposed to be safely aboard the Atlas?”

Shiro let out a tired huff.  “I was at a Coalition celebration this time.”

“I’m going to talk to your press secretary.  If they can’t keep you safe at these engagements, I think you need to stop going.”

“And stop being the face of the Coalition?”

“And stop being in danger, Shiro.  I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”

Shiro smiled at Keith.  “Goes both ways, you know?”

Keith smiled.  “Yeah.  Come on, Captain, lets get you back into Black and see if you remember how to pilot a real ship.”

“I’m going to tell Atlas you said that.”

But Shiro didn’t fight him when Keith let him take the pilot seat in Black and take them back home.

 

***

 

“It is my turn.”

Keith looked up from the wall he was shackled too. 

“Shiro?”

His right arm moved away from his body and crushed the chains holding Keith in place while Shiro stayed by the door on look out.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“Like I said, it’s my turn to save you.”

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”

“Coffee is a much better date,” Shiro announced.  “We’ll grab some tomorrow and stop this ridiculous cycle.”

Keith laughed as he stumbled and was caught by Shiro’s right arm and brought over to him.  “It’s a date.”

Keith sighed.  If only. 

 

***

 

“Well, it must be Thursday.  I could never get the hang of Thursdays,” Shiro said as he looked up from the hospital-like bed he was strapped onto. 

“What?  No.  It’s Tuesday.”

“It was a joke.”

“I don’t get it.”

“It was from a movie.”

Keith sighed.  “Shiro-”

“Tomorrow night.  You.  Me.  Movie time.”

“Can I get your off the alien space cruiser before you start making plans?” Keith asked.

“We live on an alien space cruiser, Keith.”

“Fine.  Tomorrow.  Movie night at your place.”

 

***

 

“What the hell?”

Keith looked up as the door to his room/pampered prison cell opened but instead of his favorite Captain, it was the Red Paladin.  “What are you doing here?”

“What the actual hell, Keith?”

It wasn’t the worst situation he’d ever been in.  The Xangaru simply refused to let Keith leave until he’d had dinner with them.  He’d called in for backup just because he was no good at social niceties and they wanted to watch him as an example of who the Coalition was.  He’d hoped Shiro would come, but it made sense that he would have to send the team instead.

Only he’d heard they wouldn’t be arriving for another 30 minutes and he was a mess.  He’d planned to get cleaned up, but Lance must have taken Red on a cruise and beaten the others.

“Um…”

He had nothing.  There was no way to deny what Lance was looking at.  And if there had been, it became a moot point because Keith double over with another couching fit. 

He could feel the root in his lungs, the flowers scraping against his throat as they spilled over his lips and onto the floor.  White daffodils covered the floor around him and Keith tried not to freak out about the fact that it was Lance who was witnessing this.  In all the scenarios he’d run in his head, Lance was the only one he hadn’t figured out how to pass this off as nothing with.

“This is… Keith.  This is bad.”  His eyes were round as saucers and Keith would laugh about it, if he didn’t look so devastated.

“It is what it is,” he said instead.  There was nothing to do about it.

Keith was terminally ill and there was no treatment or cure for it, no way to stop the spread of the disease.  He would die.  Soon, if the frequency of the coughs and the number of flowers was to be believed.

“How … wha … does he know?”

Funny how Lance didn’t bother to ask who.  “No one knows.  No one needs to.”

“Keith.”

“No, Lance, please listen to me.  No one needs to find out about this.  There isn’t anything I can do so why worry everyone, right?”

“Allura?”

“Nothing can cure the flower disease.  You know that Lance.  Please, just don’t say anything.  I don’t want this to turn into something they try to use to keep me out of Black.”

Funny, how things had changed.  How once Keith had believed Shiro could do anything while people wanted to ground him because of an illness.  Now, Keith was the one sick and doing everything in his power to stay in the air.

“I can’t be grounded, Lance.”

“Keith.”

“Please, promise me you won’t tell anyone.”

Lance sighed.  “They’ll be here soon.  We better get you cleaned up if you expect to keep it from them tonight.”

Keith let out a sigh of relief as he went to take a shower to wash away the blood and flowers.  Lance started to sweep up the white and yellow petals and Keith felt a rush of appreciation for his friend.

 

***

 

They arrived back on the Atlas without any trouble.  The team was in high spirits after the celebration and Shiro joined them back in the common room of their private quarters.  It wasn’t the same as the lounge in the Castle of Lions, but it was a good place to hang out. 

Lance had been shooting him looks all night long and now that they were back home, Keith felt the weight behind them more and more.  He knew Lance was worried but if he didn’t knock it off someone would notice.

Shiro would notice.

They were all winding down but Keith was just getting worked up.  He had to keep calm.  It was the one thing he knew about his condition.  So long as he didn’t let himself get too upset he could manage the cough.  The roots grew and the flowers came, but so long as he was calm he could handle it.  At least long enough to hide it.

“So, did you guys learn anything that might help us out today?” Shiro asked as they finished their stories.  It was always the same.  Talk about the cultural events, talk about the political issues, reminisce about the fun they had, and then see what they could use from all of it to help the Coalition.

“Yeah, I learned something today,” Lance said.

Keith looked at him and he could see it as clear as day.  Lance had no intention of keeping his secret. 

“Lance.”

“My buddy Keith here is dying of Hanahaki disease and he’d rather die alone than tell his best friends about it.”

“Friends?” Keith yelled as he ran towards Lance and pushed him hard.  “Friends don’t tell other people’s secrets!”

“Friends don’t let the people they love die alone!” Lance yelled back.

Keith pulled a fist back to hit Lance but as fast as he was, Shiro’s arm was there first, blocking.  “Keith!  Stop!”

He ducked under Shiro’s arm and got one good blow in before Shiro was there himself, pushing Keith back.  They were chest to chest and one look at the pain in Shiro’s eyes and Keith could feel his throat clogging with petals.

He knocked Shiro’s hands away from him and ran from the room.  He couldn’t go back to his own rooms tonight.  They’d be waiting.  He’d seen it in their faces.  They all knew, and they all knew exactly who he was in love with.

They’d be waiting, and worse than that, they’d talk to Shiro and he’d be waiting as well.

Keith turned away from the main path and let his feet lead him to the one place where he could block it all out.  The training rooms were already closed but one of the perks of being a Paladin was all hours access to the entire ship. 

He entered and ran to the changing rooms.  He was in loose clothes so he could spar as he was, but the petals in his throat weren’t going away.  He found a trash can and spit up the worst of it, noting absently how bloody they’d become. 

The doctors had warned him it was one of the symptoms of the later stages but it didn’t matter.  Keith had never expected to die old.  He just hoped he died defending someone before the flowers got the best of him.

He rinsed his mouth out in the sink a few times, then headed back out to the training room.  He called up a sparring program and began his workout.  When he focused completely on the fight, he could forget everything else.

He was three rounds in before he was forced to acknowledge the elephant in the room.  Or, the ship’s captain anyway. 

“Is it true?” Shiro asked.

“Lance might be a lot of things,” Keith said as he dodged the sparring robot, “but he’s never been a liar.”

“Keith, stop and talk to me.”

Keith had  no intention of doing either.  “There’s nothing to talk about.  I’m sick.  I’ll die.  I want to do it in space.  You of all people should understand that.”

“Program off,” Shiro called to the computer and Keith turned to face Shiro. 

Keith was pissed and he didn’t bother to try to cover his expression.  Keith couldn’t countermand what Shiro did so his spar had just ended.  Except, Shiro looked pissed also and he kicked off his boots and slipped out of his jacket.  Keith watched him roll his shoulders and loosen up as he stepped onto the training mat.

“What are you doing?” Keith demanded.

“Beating some sense into you.”

Keith didn’t have time to respond before Shiro’s right arm came speeding at him.  He dodged but Shiro was right behind it and he wasn’t going easy on Keith.  There was real anger in his moves, a desperation that Keith couldn’t read through.  The controlled, practiced moves he was used to sparring against were gone.

This was Shiro as he’d been in the arena, survival and instinct and nothing more.  Keith didn’t know why he was seeing it here, but he saw it in his eyes, something wild and untamed.

Something almost feral.

Keith dodged and blocked, he hit and kicked and never seemed to get past Shiro’s defenses.  Shiro used his right arm to keep Keith off balance.  It came from places it shouldn’t.  The speed changed, angles unlooked for, strength unmatched by anything else Keith had ever fought. 

Shiro’s right arm tripped him up at the knees and he fell back, only to scramble out of the way of Shiro’s other fist.  He tried to stand up, but the right arm grabbed him by the ankle.  Keith tried to crawl away, but Shiro took advantage of his hold and pulled Keith back.  He had his other ankle in his other hand a moment later and as he crawled up his body, he used his larger frame to hold Keith down.

“Are you done?” Shiro demanded.

“I’m sparring.  Leave me alone Shiro.”

“Stop running from me, Keith!”

“I’m not running!”

“Then give me an answer!”

“You already know the answer!”

He felt the flowers again and he turned over onto his side.  He didn’t know what Shiro saw but he let Keith go and helped him turn over.  When the cough hit, Shiro was there to witness it.  He saw the bloodstained daffodils and he watched Keith spit them from blood-stained lips. 

Keith took a deep breath when it was over.  He was too tired to keep up the fight.  Shiro knew.  He knew Keith and he knew exactly what all of it meant.

“They mean unrequited love,” Shiro said softly as he curled up behind Keith and wrapped an arm around his waist to hold him close.  “Pidge told me.”

“They have more than one meaning.”

“Yeah?”

“They mean you’re the only one.  And respect and regard.  And they mean the sun is always shining when I’m with you.”

“Keith.”  There was a short pause, then Shiro asked, “Who?”

Keith couldn’t help it then.  Shiro wasn’t an idiot but for some reason he failed to see just how much he meant to Keith.  If he didn’t love the man so much he wouldn’t find it so damn endearing.

He turned onto his back and looked up at Shiro.  There was a question in his eyes and there was something else that Keith wasn’t sure how to interpret. 

“Shiro, you know.”

“Who do you love Keith?”

“You,” he said in a whisper.  “It’s only ever been you.”

“Oh, thank god,” Shiro said before he leaned down and covered Keith’s mouth with his own. 

There was nothing tentative about the kiss.  Shiro licked across the seam of Keith’s lips and he opened to him.  Keith wrapped his arms around Shiro’s neck and ran his hands though the other man’s hair.  He had no idea what Shiro was thinking, but all Keith could think was he would die happily with this memory.

“Keith,” Shiro whispered against his lips, “Keith, I love you.”

Keith opened his eyes and looked up at Shiro in shock.  He had never dared to dream that Shiro would return his feelings.  Even when Shiro’s love was the only thing that could save his life, the only cure for the flower disease that was slowly eating away at his lungs, he’d never hoped.  “What?”

“We’re both idiots,” Shiro said softly.  “I’ve been subtly trying to ask you out for months.  Lance told me I should just kidnap you and Black months ago.  Maybe I should have taken his advice.”

“Please tell me you will never take advice on love from Lance.”

“Well, he’s the one that told me about you.  Keith, why didn’t you tell me?”

Keith let out a deep breath.  “I didn’t think you would ever feel this way about me.  I thought … I didn’t want to worry anyone when there was no chance of you loving me.”

“Well, you’re an idiot.”

Keith smiled and he reached his hand out to cup Shiro’s cheek, testing it out for the first time.  “You wanted to ask me out?”

“I asked you out for coffee.  I asked you to watch movies with me.  You were my date to Matt’s wedding.  You’ve been my date to every official event I’ve attended as the captain of the Atlas.  You seem to be the only one who hasn’t noticed.  Even the newspapers are asking when we’re getting married.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.  Oh.”  There was a smile on Shiro’s face as he said it though and Keith relaxed beneath him. 

“So.  When are we?”

“When are we what?”

“Getting married?”

Shiro smiled.  “How about next month?”

“Will you take me on a date first?”

“Veronica’s promotion tomorrow good enough?”

“You already asked me to that.”

“I know,” Shiro said with a sigh. 

And Keith got it.  Shiro loved him.  He actually, truly, loved him. 

He pushed up against Shiro until the other man was on his back and he smiled at him.  “We’re going on a date tomorrow.”

“Yeah, we are.”  Shiro’s smile was brighter than any he’d ever seen.

“You’re going to marry me next month.”

“Yeah, I think I am.  Unless Colleen gets mad that she doesn’t have more time to plan it.  You’ll have to fight the date out with her.”

Keith smiled at Shiro.  “I love you, Shiro.”

Shiro pulled him down into a kiss and Keith lost all track of time as they held onto each other, mapping out each other’s bodies.  Keith and Shiro both lost their shirts to the exploration and Keith wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to hold out before he pushed Shiro off him to start removing anything else that stood between them. 

“Oh man!  I can’t unsee that!”  Keith pulled away from Shiro to find Lance with his hand covering his eyes.  “At least you still have your pants on!”

“Lance, what are you doing here?” Shiro demanded.

“I came to check on my best friend,” he answered, his tone implying it was the stupidest question Shiro had ever asked.   “You know, the one that was dying for love of you, who seemed oblivious to the fact that you were in love with him.”

“Right,” Keith answered because Shiro was looking stupidly fond of Lance and he felt he might start looking the same if he didn’t get rid of Lance soon.  “Well, we’re all good here.”

“I promise not to tell anyone what I saw.  It’s bad enough I have it stuck in my brain.  I’ll just let them know you have resolved your differences.”

Keith thought that might be the end of it, but then he saw Lance’s mischievous grin.  “Topless and sweaty and all over the training room floor.”

“Lance, I swear I will kill you!” Keith said as he tried to get up.  Shiro had him very effectively pinned though.

“Hey Lance, what are you doing next month?” Shiro asked instead.

“Um, saving the universe?”

“Think you can pencil in a wedding? I hear a certain Paladin might be looking for a best man.”

“A best… what?”

“Why did you tell him that?” Keith asked.

“There’s too much to plan!  How could you do this to us!” Lance demanded, but he left the training room as if he was on a mission.

“Shiro?”

“He left.  And he’ll tell the others.  And they’ll go into a frenzy of planning.  The Holts will be called, and possibly all the other families, and while they are all freaking out about planning a wedding in a month, you and I will be in here, with no interruptions.”

“Anyone could walk in.”

“Atlas, lock the training room so that no one else can enter.”

Keith heard the sound of the lock sliding into place and he smiled as Shiro pressed a kiss to his lips.  “I could get used to this.”

Shiro grinned.  “It’s good to be the Captain.”

 

 


End file.
